Office Grump: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Bad Chicago Bosses)

The Slow Burn Turns Tender When A Teenage Boy Named Jordan Enters The Mix. It Is A Story About Family And Grouchy Billionaires With Golden Hearts.Magnus Heron, thirty-one, is the cranky billionaire owner, president, and CEO of Heron Communications. He is the master of his emotions and gives nothing away. Stubborn is his key characteristic, and his arrogance is earned. Known as the Magnum of Advertising, he took over the stagnant company from his father while in his twenties and turned it into a powerhouse. He had a vision, and created attention to use to his and the company’s advantage. That included hiring a model and influencer to be his fake fiancé a few years back in order to increase the company’s visibility. Mariska had trashed him after the break-up but the publicity had served its purpose. Today the driven CEO lords over his company and his employees, who rightfully fear his wrath. His four years in the Marines following high school reinforced his natural disposition towards discipline and hard work. He expects the same from his employees, whom he treats like doormats. Magnus works seventy hours each week or more – often sixteen hour days, with no days off. He is so busy that he can hardly remember the last time he was with a woman, sometime over a year ago. The closest thing he has to friends and confidants are Ruby Hunting, his HR Director, and Armstrong, his driver. Both have known him long enough to know that underneath the grumpy exterior is a kind an generous man very much shaped by the past.Sabrina Bristol, twenty-three, is a little superstitious. The recent University of Chicago grad hadn’t much luck after graduation, losing two jobs in a row due to circumstance and bad luck. She got her BFA in Graphic Arts and loves her current design job at a cat furniture store, Purry Furniture and More’s downtown Chicago headquarters. But Friday the thirteenth gives her a bad feeling, and her fears are soon realized when she finds herself jobless once again with rent due soon. She cannot turn to her parents, who are barely scraping by on her father’s retirement and her mother’s lackluster romance book sales. In fact, her mother’s sales primarily come from Sabrina’s anonymous purchases. She thus has no savings. She had already turned to her semi-rich best friend and roommate Paige for help during a past job emergency and cannot continue on that route. Brina is too stubborn and independent to make that a habit. Taking consolation in her favorite cinnamon latte, she heads to the park to clear her head and enjoy the beautiful fall day.When Magnus oversees the production of a new fashion ad that promises to open doors for HeronComm into the coveted fashion world, he finds himself in a crunch for time. The weather had been bad and there are minutes left to get in the shots they still need in the park. Something comes over him when the beauty on the bench refuses to leave her seat for his shot, and as much as his blood is boiling, he knows he has to have her. Her expressive face gives away every emotion – and he loves it. With her sassy mouth and bold attitude, she is the perfect candidate for his vacant executive assistant position, a job with a revolving door. He cannot seem to keep his EA’s very long and he is drowning without the help. Instinct tells him she is the one, and he always gets what he wants. He wants her in other ways, too, but this is better. His strict no fraternization rules will no doubt keep him in check.Magnus and Brina’s enemies to lovers romance will have you in stitches! It is a somewhat long read, and the first third is hilarious. By my count there are fourteen laugh out loud moments in the book, eleven of which are in the first third. The couple’s banter is outlandish. This is a slow burn, and the relationship really builds during the heated banter phase. This part of the book is an office romance. Brina settles in to her new job and catches wind of a mysterious company scandal that nobody wants to be caught talking about. Something to do with fraternization. She is also puzzled by Magnus’s driver, Armstrong, who thinks rather highly of the unbearable man. Magnus is hot and cold with her, but she desperately needs her job and puts up with his ridiculous demands.Midway through the story shifts, taking a sharp domestic turn. Magnus is faced with a personal challenge just as he and Sabrina begin to recognize their feelings for one another. The past that haunts him has become a crisis, and a teenage boy named Jordan enters his life rather unexpectedly. This story is not just about Magnus and Sabrina. It is also a tender story about Magnus and Jordan. Their story adds depth to Magnus’s character. Sabrina’s story is riddled with bad luck and omens as black cats, broken clocks, lucky pennies, and Friday the thirteenth make their appearances in her life. She is a stubborn soul but loyal and selfless for those she loves, as evidenced by her sacrifice for her parents. Here she must learn to balance selflessness with self-respect. The last quarter of the book has a few teary moments. The story drags a bit as it wraps up, but the happy ending is more thorough than many, ending with a touching peak at Magnus’s family four years into the future. The couple earns their happy ending.Fans will appreciate references to other series by the author, including Heart’s Edge. In my ARC version, there is an issue with the timeline and Jordan’s age for those that pay attention to detail, but it is easily overlooked. Additionally, some of Sabrina’s behavior at the end felt a little overdramatic. Nevertheless, this is a very worthwhile story. Magnus’s character in particular is deep and layered in mystery, and the chemistry he shares with Brina sizzles off the pages.Magnus and Sabrina’s enemies to lovers romance will have you in stitches. The slow burn turns tender when a teenage boy named Jordan enters the mix. It is a story about family and grouchy billionaires with golden hearts. It is well-written. The plot is complex, with layers of mystery. The characters are carefully crafted and three-dimensional. The story is written in first person. The POV alternates between Magnus and Sabina. I rate this book 4.5 stars.I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

So, I kinda have a weakness for workplace romances despite their tendency to spawn cringey moments. Since Office Grump kept popping up in totally unrelated searches, I finally broke down and bought it. I'm a fan of grumpy heroes too, so this purchase seemed like a no brainer. Unfortunately, this particular boss-hole romance just didn't blow me away. I read it. I finished it. It was ok.The elements that go into plot and characterization in Office Grump are mostly pretty familiar. Magnus Heron, CEO of HeronComm ad agency, is your run of the mill alph-hole more than he is a true grump. He's a driven control freak, workaholic who has no life outside the office, and gleefully expects his employees to meet the same impossible standards that he sets himself. He occasionally hints at a nobler impulse, but only a few faint voices have any thing positive to say about him. Magnus encounters recently down-sized graphic artist Sabrina Bristol when he's personally micromanaging a photo shoot and tries to bully her off the park bench where she's enjoying possibly the last Cinnamon Latte that she can afford. She responds with spirit, sass, and spit out coffee on his Italian loafers. He strikes back a few days later with a job offer. This exchange typifies the whole book. I continually asked myself, Who would act like this?We'd start with some familiar trope or just plain cliche, and then it just goes oooover the top. Of course the guy is gorgeous and she's attracted in spite of his alph-holery. He, in turn, is resolved to never cross that line with an employee like his seriously sleazy father. However, he still checks out her plummy derriere as she walks away from that park bench. When she takes the job as his executive assistant, she quickly discovers why none of his EAs last longer than a couple of months. While 16 hour days may leave Brina exhausted, she still manages to master all the new duties that she's completely unqualified for annnd save the day during a couple of client presentations. All righty then.In the meantime,As Magnum's (not a typo) reluctant lust grows so do his caring protective impulses, but he is wicked inconsistent in his treatment of Brina as the story unfolds. She on the other hand is consistently sassy and remarkably cavalier about dissing the the man who gave her a $200,000 a year secretarial position. The banter between them is amusing, and the growing sexual tension is undeniably steamy until it erupts (hur) into hot yet interminable lurve scenes. (Some of those suckers lasted for multiple chapters.) The line is irrevocably crossed, but there is never any doubt that it's mutual and not coerced. There are blow-ups and reconciliations, but there is little real sense that these individuals grow or mature very much in the course of their relationship.Supporting characters are mostly a plus in this book. Coworkers at HeronComm, Maggot's (also not a typo) driver, the teenaged secret baby, Brina's best girl friend as well as Brina's adorable retired working class parents all contribute a great deal to both the humor and the emotional foundations of the story. Although these characters fill familiar roles in the novel, none of them are reduced to cardboard cutouts. However, this does lead me to the one plot element that did really bother me.Sabrina's mother is a not terribly successful independent author of romance novels and has been for many years. Though Brina seems somewhat sheepish about Mom's career, she tries to support her family emotionally and financially by purchasing her mom's romances in batches and donating them. This is actually one of the more realistic facets of the story because a twenty something daughter who is secretly embarassed by a mother's less than sparkling writing career is totally believable. Yet when her mother describes a plot involving an ex-Marine hog farmer who rescues the heroine from a rodeo clown serial killer, this and every subsequent reference to the novel has a smirky, nudge-nudge, wink-wink vibe. As a character, Brina's mom is wonderful--warm, loving, and supportive--yet the humorous attitude towards romance writing seems a bit too condescending. There is something slightly mocking in that over-the-top plot description and it made me uncomfortable every time it was mentioned. The fact is that Mom has been writing and apparently self-publishing for I think it was 20 yrs. and somebody should have been cheering that woman on for all her hard work and perseverance regardless of her commercial success. The other thing that bugs me is the association of romance as a genre with ridonkadonk plotlines. It kind of makes me wonder about the sillier events in the plot of Office Grump. Are they acceptable because this is romance? Mind you, I would never question the right of any creator to color outside the lines, just as I would never mock a reader for preferring the qualities of magic realism or impressionism or hifalutin' lit fic trends applied to whatever genre they enjoy.I enjoyed Office Grump as a light excursion into workplace romance, though I do not see myself ever rereading it. It was reasonably well written and funny if not terribly original. Overall, I consider it a three star read.

This is another good read by Nicole. I am a huge fan of her writing style. For some reason I get hooked right away and don’t want to stop reading. Even though this book is in a series, each book is separate and not linked to the next book so you can read out of order.Overview: Sabrina or aka Brina was having a bad day, by getting let go by her job. She heads to the park it’s coffee and hoping to relax a little. But a rude rich dude Magnus walk up and tell her to leave the bench so they could finish the photo shoot. She refuses and spits her coffee o his experience shoes. She is the first person the put Mag in his place and didn’t know who he truly was. Now Mag insists on hiring as his personal EA. Their bickering, grows into a perfect working relationship on then more. Brina helps Mag with 2 meeting and saves them. But will Mag be willing to not repeat his fathers mistakes and fall in love with the help. How will the two every find the time to be together as well as the drama around everything else

I usually love an enemies to lovers romance and to start with this ticked all the boxes. One sassy fiesty heroine, a hot grumpy alpha male, that instant connection and resistance to one another lead to an addictive and charming read. However the dynamic of the book suddenly changed for me half way through. It became unnecessarily long-dragging out pointless scenes and conversations and to be honest became abit boring and immature. I dont know i found myself skipping pages towards the end and hoping the author would just stop delaying the happy ever after as all the grand gestures and complete character change of 'Mag' was just a little cringey. I much prefered his broodier self. I did really enjoy this book to start with but it just seemed to fizzle out.

The office grump series we meet Sabrina Bristol a independent fiery and an gorgeous with a heart of gold. Wants a decent job to pay her bills and help her parents where she can also to use her creativity as she just recently been told at purr let furniture her job is no longer due to budget cuts. Her dear mum is a romance writer creating the next Mr onikwinkles the new head liner. And also waiting for the big bang top seller and her dad with health problems but all in all does not stop Sabrina trying to get somewhere in Chicago . Her only solace is the park with a latte and cinnamon where she catches her first glimpse of paradise grump. Meet CEO Magnus Heron no push over where business is concerned and rebuilds heron communications again after the fatal scandal. the first time he meets her the feisty woman sprays latte cream cinnamon over his expensive shoes. Lol , not one to miss out you love the banter and the romance between the two characters and the storyline highly recommended reading and very funny 😂

I really liked this book good characters good side characters just enough angst and and great hea I loved feisty Brina I didn't like grumpy Mags to start with I th poo ought he was a arranging jerk but he grew on me once you realised how things were, I love how Nicole can remind you of previous characters like Paige's cousin from a previous book even down to certain truffles from a different series or turtle tour guide from a previous book I always love it when she has a new realised normally have matchstick under my eyes the next day due to not being able to put it down and this book was no different bring on the next I can't wait

Successful businessman meets his match in this entertaining romance. Scared of history repeating itself our businessman keeps everyone at arms length and demands excellence and perfection. He hired someone who challenges him and the banter and courtship begins. It's clever, fun and an absolute entertaining journey. I liked the storyline, characters and dialogue.Definitely recommend and one of the best books by this author.

I loved this story. It wasn’t rushed, the characters and the story were given time to develop. The main characters and the secondary ones were interesting and three dimensional and all had a part to play in the development of the story. They were strong and stubborn and not push overs which made it interesting. It was funny, heart warming and sad at times, but it all works out in the end.I will definitely be looking for more books by this author.